Movie Review: Mumbai Meri Jaan
Film Critic: Goher Iqbal Punn
Producer: UTV Motion Pictures (Ronnie Screwala)
Director: Nishikanth Kamath
Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Irffan Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Madhavan and Paresh Rawal
UTV Motion Pictures, the colossal movie house of Bollywood, appears as the producer of ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’ having Ronnie Screwala on the producer’s seat. The small time director Nishikanth Kamath appears with his third attempt to highlight the issue of 2006 Mumbai blasts.Earlier he has done two films on this sensitive issue –one in Marathi and the other is in Tamil. Starring Kay Kay Menon, Irffan Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Madhavan and Paresh Rawal in the main roles, the film is a good effort to present the serious issue on celluloid.
The film is a real tale of what had happened on the particular evening of 2006 when the city faced blasts and the incident left hundreds dead. It does not talk about only the explosions rather it also tells the saga of the aftermath of the national tragedy. You find five characters - Soha Ali Khan, Madhavan, Kay Kay Menon, Irrfan Khan and Paresh Rawal - in different episodes coping with the catastrophe.
Kamath has paid tribute to the residents of Mumbai who witnessed the devastation. The movie consists of multiple stories that run parallel to each other but have common backdrop.
Suresh (Kay Kay Menon) is a Hindu radical who has a skeptical outlook towards the minority community. Nikhil (R Madhavan) is a contemporary corporate guy, is progressively patriot and is laced with a civic sense. Rupali (Soha Ali Khan) is a TV journalist and considers this profession as a freedom of expression. Tukaram Patil (Paresh Rawal) is a senior constable, who is paired along with a patrolling partner Sunil Kadam (Vijay Maurya) who is a rebel against social injustice and corruption. There is a nomadic coffee vendor Thomas (Irffan Khan), who has his own ways to get back at the aristocrats. Each of these characters is swathed with different stories but these are linked with the train blasts. And every story makes a statement.
The director Nishant Kamt has directed the sensitive subject with aplomb and care. The emotional scenes have been handled wonderfully. The writer Yogesh Jogi attracts with his pen. Every character in the film impresses you in full. From Irffan Khan to Paresh Rawal, to Soha Ali Khan to Kay Kay Menon to Mdhavan all enact with brilliance. Sanjay Jadav’s cinematography is astonishing.
On the whole, ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’ is a brilliant effort to bring the sensitive issue to celluloid.
RS Rating: 3.5/5
- The reviewer is a popular and experienced Bollywood and Indian Television Analyst and is laced with a good rapport with both the swanky worlds of Hindi film industry and television fraternity. He is also swathed with good rapport with the celebs of these abodes. You may write to him at the e-mails: goher.punn@yahoo.com, goheriqbal@yahoo.co.uk and bollywood.tv.analyst@gmail.com